Apparatus and Method for Controlling Portable Terminal

1. An apparatus for controlling a portable terminal, the apparatus comprising: a sensor configured to sense a contact area of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal; and at least one processor configured to: determine a function mode of the portable terminal based on the sensed contact area and a stored recognition model that is updated, based on whether the determined function mode, after an execution of the function mode, was a function mode desired by the user; and select a function mode of the portable terminal corresponding to the determined function mode.

2. A method for controlling a portable terminal, the method comprising: sensing, by a sensor of the portable terminal, a contact area of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal; determining, by at least one processor, a function mode of the portable terminal based on the sensed contact area and a stored recognition model that is updated based on whether the determined function mode, after an execution of the function mode, was a function mode desired by the user; and selecting, by the at least one processor, a function mode of the portable terminal corresponding to the determined function mode.

3. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a program to implement a method, the method comprising: sensing, by a sensor of the portable terminal, a contact area of an external surface of the portable terminal contacted by a user as the user holds the portable terminal; determining, by at least one processor, a function mode of the portable terminal based on the sensed contact area and a stored recognition model that is updated, based on whether the determined function mode, after an execution of the function mode, was a function mode desired by the user; and selecting, by the at least one processor, a function mode of the portable terminal corresponding to the determined function mode.